You enter your kitchen or bathroom and smell something unpleasant. You empty the trash and clean the entire room, but the stink is still there. Then it hits you – it’s coming from the drain.
Luckily, there are methods of dealing with plumbing odors that are simple enough to do on your own.
If you observe other issues aside from the smell (like leaking or water back-ups), though, it would be best to contact a reliable plumber in your area immediately for quality plumbing repair.
Common Causes Smelly Drains
Sinks and shower drains are notorious for developing foul odors that can make the entire house stink. There are plenty of things that can go wrong underneath, possibly caused by:
1. Trapped Food
One of the most common reasons why your kitchen sink stinks is trapped food. Scraps and other organic material can get flushed down your drain. When they get stuck, accumulate, and decompose inside the pipes, they can cause nasty odors.
2. Gunk and Bacteria
Aside from food, grease, hair, and other gunk are likely to get washed down and clog your drains. Over time, they will attract bacteria and may release foul odors.
3. Sewer Gases
Do you smell a sewage-like scent coming from your kitchen or bathroom drain? This may be due to an empty P-trap – the U-shaped pipe under your sinks. Empty or dry P-traps allow pungent sewer gases to rise.
This problem usually occurs in sinks that aren’t used very often.
4. Clogged Vents
Plumbing systems are equipped with vents, which serve as escapeways for trapped gases, so they don’t leave unpleasant odors in the room. When these vents get clogged, trapped gases have no way out and usually leak out through the drains.
5. Plumbing Issues
Issues in the plumbing system (such as leak, missing traps, and rotting tubes) can cause unpleasant odors to seep from the bathroom drain or kitchen sink and into your home.
How to Eliminate Foul Plumbing Odors
No matter how careful you are with what you flush into your drains; some food, grease, and other particles can still inevitably get washed down your pipes and cause unpleasant odors after some time.
What can you do if this happens?
Here are four simple but effective ways to eliminate the smell coming from your plumbing system:
1. Boiling Water
Sometimes, all that a smelly drain needs is a good hot flush.
All you have to do is pour boiling water down your drain and then follow up with cold water after five minutes to flush away any grease and gunk that might have been stuck in the pipes. Easy, right?
The heat from the boiled water can help melt hardened dirt and other particles that might be causing the smell coming out of your plumbing. Habitually pouring hot water on your drains will keep it from stinking and clogging.
2. Hot Vinegar
Do you know that vinegar can help you de-stink your drain?
Yes, white vinegar is a fantastic deodorizer and it has disinfecting properties as well. Pouring a cup or two or hot vinegar down your drain and then running cold water for 60 seconds afterwards to rinse can take care of that funky smell from your sink or shower.
For better results, repeat the process one more time or as necessary.
3. Baking Soda
Remember that volcano project you did in school using baking soda and vinegar? As it turns out, it works quite well for foul-smelling drains, too. In fact, it’s one of the most popular tricks for getting rid of kitchen and bathroom smells.
Here’s what you do:
Dump a cup of baking soda into the drain. Let it sit for 15 minutes, then pour two cups of boiling hot vinegar. Let it pop and fizz for another 15 minutes and then wash everything down with hot water.
You can also substitute the vinegar with half a cup of lemon juice, but you’ll have to wait for an hour before rinsing it.
4. Drain Snake
Clogs are often the culprit behind plumbing odors. But some clogs are tougher to clear than others.
If you’re dealing with hardcore clogging, you may want to bring out (or purchase) a drain snake. It’s a plumbing tool that unblocks drains by breaking up and removing clogs.
To use a drain snake, remove the drain plug then slowly feed the snake in and crank the handle. Once you feel a resistance, turn the snake slowly to break up the clogging. When there’s no resistance anymore, pull the drain out and run water for a few minutes to flush everything.
Can’t Get Rid of the Stink?
Have you already tried the tips and hacks we’ve listed below, but still no luck? That could mean the problem is a lot more complicated than you think.
If your plumbing gives off a rotten egg/sewer-like smell or the odor is accompanied by water back-up, quit the DIY and call in a plumbing professional. Let the experts handle the problem for a better and more permanent fix!
Author:
Rachel Watson is the Senior Content Editor of Precision Air & Plumbing, a full-service HVAC, plumbing and home performance contractor operating in Chandler, Arizona. Rachel enjoys yoga and writing articles about how to make home living more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.
